Despite not having exact figures, the French Museum’s Direction predicts for this year an increase of the order of 3% of the visits to its national museums.
It seems that the crisis would incite people to frequent museums. As a matter of fact, while the world changes and the future worries, the intangibility of art pieces and the stability of museums could have soothing effects.
The culture economists affirm that in a crisis periods domestic economics sacrifice the great expenses, but not cultural ones -when they are not excessively onerous. After the crisis of 1929, the American cinemas were full of people… However, it does not seem that an economic price is the only explanation. If not, how could we explain people’s attendance to the opera or to concerts of current music, with tickets that vary from 50 to 100 euros?
According to Lamberger-Cohen, French Operas Meeting’s director, the opera’s theatres had never had so much influx of public. The seats are sold out by the best known repertoires. This has been the case of the assemblies of Pumice in Bordeaux, Sigfried in Strasburg, or Carmen, Faust and Salomé in Toulouse. It would not be necessary to forget, however, that the majority of this tickets obeys to payments made in 2008, and it will be necessary to see if it keeps the same way in those of next season 2009-2010.
Regarding the theatre in France, a different behaviour is perceived between the public and the private one. While the first keeps at the same levels of attendance, the second has sensed a light descent. In this case, the policies of more economic payments for the public theatre could constitute an explanation.
With everything, it seems that the cinema would be the most prejudiced by the crisis, while people speak about a sweet moment for the theatre -also the Spaniard. The theatre which has always been said that it is in crisis, now, in a fully global crisis, feels to be full in all its genders. Actors and actresses who have made a name across the cinema go to the theatre, and its popularity helps also to filling in the rooms. And it is that, after years of considering the success of actors in cinema, it would seem that theatre is winning prestige.
Although how some professionals suggest the profession is “to act” and that means by any way, it is certain that each genre has its specificity, for the actor as well as for the public. The cinema -for its technique- can make us live things and situations that could never happen in real life, but theatre has the emotion, the pulse of the life, and it generates a collective activity -unlike the cinema, that is lived in a more individual way.
Art is also being affected by changes. Some galleries in New York hold that the art market needed an adjustment, since last years an important inflation had been produced, often unjustified, to works of almost unknown artists, devoted to produce for market, rather than on concentrate on their work.
This crisis, then, can be beneficial to the artistic production, and it is paradoxically for some galleries: those that had not played the game of the speculation and had kept a demanding line for faithful collectors. Museums can also take advantage of this situation after years unable to afford the high prices of art pieces due to inflation.
Regarding the relation between economics and culture, there is a new fact. For the first time, last 16th November in Avignon took place the culture “Davos”, where more than 250 persons participated. The names of some of them indicate that the culture starts to have a place in the economic world. Aga Khan, French Comical Opera’s, the director Macha Makeïeff, Google’s representatives and Lagardère representatives, Bank Neuflize OBC representatives, they were part -among other-, of the group of assistants.
The motive to organize the event according to its instigators is that economics of the culture is changing, as well as they are making it also the media. Making coincide these worlds that normally are ignored -culture, economics and medias- it was interesting. Another outstanding element is that culture is today a factor of economic growth in which, according to the UN’s report about Creative Economics 2008- it claims a 3.4% of the world-wide trade. In accordance with the philosopher Gilles Lipovetsky, we would be going from the mercantilism of the culture to the culturalization of the merchandise.
If as it seems one of the few sectors in the current moment that increases consumption is the cultural one, and if culture is consolidating as a factor of economic growth, maybe the only joy that could have brought us the crisis is the fact that awakens the need of reflection on the human condition in people -which usually makes the theatre-, and the need to run away from so much things “tinned” to search something authentic. This new situation could generate another type of consumption, more based on the enrichment of people, in social and collective values, and less in individuality.
It could be also that, in the middle of so much virtuality and difficulty of contrasting reality, we need again to feel life. Tasting the authenticity.
